Steve Gibson is an avid angler, writer and photographer who lives in Sarasota, Fla. Follow his daily pursuits and thoughts through his blog.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Night fishing around lighted docks was the key to April success

Happy Susan Bostwick of California shows off her first snook. She caught it on a fly rod.

April was a good month, but a perplexing one.

Typically, April is a wonderful time to hit Sarasota Bay and
catch a bunch of spotted seatrout. We caught some decent-sized trout during the
month, but not a lot of them.

I'm still convinced the bay is still feeling the effects of last fall's red tide. I could be wrong, but
that's my hunch.

Snook often are plentiful in the dock lights.

We did slip out one day and catch some really nice fish.
Starting a couple of hours before daylight, we caught a couple of snook and
jack crevalle around dock lights in the Longboat Key rim canal.

After the sun
came up, we paddled out into the bay and found cooperative trout in several
spots. But when we hit the "outer elbow" off Whale Key, we started
getting trout from 2 1/2 to 4 pounds. Must have caught 15 before they quit
hitting.

We caught all of the trout on MirrOlure MirrOdines, a
suspending plug that is seemingly magical on a variety of species. Key to
success with the MirrOdine is working it correctly.

I like to hold the rod horizontal to the water to my left. I
twitch the lure a couple of times, then reel up the slack. I repeat this
retrieve until I'm ready to make another cast. Most often, fish will hit as the
lure is suspending.

Lee Soares of California battles a leaping seatrout.

It's important to work the lure slowly and allow it to
perform its magic.

In addition to trout, I've also caught ladyfish, jack
crevalle, snook, mangrove snapper, bluefish, Spanish mackerel and redfish on
the MirrOdine. I don't think there's a fish out there that won't hit it!

Vinny Caruso of Bradenton and Capt. Bob Zola of Fort
Lauderdale joined me to explore the waters off Vamo in Little Sarasota Bay. We
caught 15 trout to 24 inches, several ladyfish, three snook and a flounder. We
caught the fish on MirrOdines and MirrOlure Lil Johns on light jigs.

Howard Beemer of Fort Myers and his son in law, James Wies
of Illinois fished Little Sarasota Bay and caught 10 trout to 23 inches,
ladyfish, snook and flounder on MirrOdines and Lil Johns.

Mike Skalla holds a decent black drum.

Mark Skalla and Mike Skalla hit the water an hour before
daylight and had a fair day. Mark caught a couple of nice snook on jigs while
fishing dock lights around Longboat Key. They also caught three black drum to
10 pounds, two jack crevalle, mangrove snapper, spotted seatrout and flounder.

Vince O'Boyle of Venice caught flounder, redfish, mangrove
snapper and a black drum on Lil Johns and light jigs in the rim canal at
Longboat Key.

Ted Tolliver of Ohio had a fair day. He managed a dozen
trout to 17 inches, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish and bluefish. We fished the
Longboat Key rim canal and deep grass in Sarasota Bay off Whale Key. Most of
the fish were taken on Lil Johns and MirrOdines.

Lee Soares and Susan Bostwick of Petaluma , Calif., fly
fished on a tough day, but their persistence paid off. Each caught his/her
first snook. Lee's 28-incher was the day's best. They fished lighted docks in
Bowles Creek.

Mark Skalla's first snook.

After daylight, we moved out to deep grass patches in
Sarasota Bay. They caught spotted seatrout to 23 inches.

The significance of their outing was that a day prior, 21
anglers fished the Fly Division of the Sarasota CCA's Photo All-Release
tournament. Those 21 angler caught a total of four trout and one redfish.

Lee's best snook and trout would have made him grand
champion of the Fly Division in that tournament.

Pat and Penny Martin of New York joined me for a four-hour
outing. We launched at Buttonwood Harbor and fished the rim canal at Longboat
Key. The morning was very slow. We caught flounder, jack crevalle, ladyfish and
missed a couple of snook. We estimated
one of the snook at 20 pounds or more.

Everette Howell of Longboat Key hooked a pair of tarpon and
a snook while fly fishing around lighted docks. After daylight, he switched to
a MirrOlure Lil John on a light jig and landed a 25-inch snook. We caught one other snook and a jack crevalle.

Greg Tango of New Jersey and Mike Tango of California caught
four snook to 27 inches, mangrove snapper, jack crevalle, flounder, silver
trout and 20 spotted seatrout to 21 inches fishing around dock and seawall at
Stephens Point and deep grass patches in Sarasota Bay. They used MirrOlure Lil
Johns on light jigs, MirrOdines and D.O.A. Deadly Combinations.

We fished Lake Manatee on a couple of occasions and did
fair. Launching at the Verna-Bethany Bridge at the east end of the lake, we
caught largemouth bass to 3 pounds and hand-sized bluegill on popping bugs. We
moved up the river and caught bluegill, bass and stumpknocker on nymphs.

We launched at Lake Manatee Fish Camp on another occasion
and caught six bass to 3 pounds on poppers. We also caught bass, bluegill and
channel catfish on nymphs.

I drove down to Casey Key and spent a morning looking for
snook in the surf. It's still a little early, but the snook population in the
surf will increase daily. I saw about 10 snook, but didn't catch any.

MAY FORECAST:
Snook and tarpon are the best bets on fly rod around lighted docks along the
east and west sides of Sarasota Bay. Spotted seatrout, ladyfish, jack crevalle
and a few bluefish should cooperate over deep grass on both sides of the bay.
Snook numbers should increase in the surf for those who like to sight-fishing
with fly rod or spin tackle. In fresh water, I anticipate good action on
bluegill, largemouth bass and channel catfish.

May is a great time to fish Sarasota Bay and surrounding
waters. In addition, I look for decent action on peacock bass, Mayan cichlid,
bluegill and shellcracker in south Florida waters.

I anticipate vastly improved sight-fishing for snook in the
surf.

Fishing from a kayak is one of the world's great activities.
I've been doing it since 1986.